1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to remote sensing and, more particularly, to an apparatus, system and method for sensing to locate persons in a building in the event of a disaster.
2. Description of the Background
In the existing art, buildings are typically designed with disaster avoidance in mind, that is, buildings are designed to withstand certain types of disasters. However, as was evidenced by the terrorist attacks in New York City on Sep. 11, 2001, if disasters not envisioned by the designers of the buildings occur, the results can be catastrophic. Nonetheless, the existing art necessitates that disaster types, and therefore effects, be known in advance in order to save lives. Further, the present art offers no way to assess, in the event of an unexpected disaster, what design effects perform best in the event to save lives.
Additionally, at present, although some larger buildings do have security that tracks the total number of people in a building, or event the approximate number of people on a floor or group of floors of the building, it is rare that building management has any methodology whereby it can even approximate where people are within the building. Yet further, any methodology whereby the precise location of people within the building can be tracked is non-existent.
The lack of any such precise tracking technology is shocking in view of recent events, and particularly terrorist events, in which non-survivors took months to locate, and in which some survivors were similarly deemed non-survivors for months after such events. Needless to say, such confusion would be remedied by a system that gave the precise locations of all persons within the building at the moment of any event.
Finally, again in view of recent events, the available art fails to provide a methodology whereby first responders can be informed of where to focus life-saving efforts. Thus, for example, in the event of a disaster affecting a high-rise building, first responders may spend priceless minutes endeavoring to get onto the 21st floor although, unbeknownst to those first responders, all survivors who did not get out are located on the 23rd floor.
Thus, the need exists for an apparatus, system and method that provides sensor-locating of persons in a building in the event of a disaster, and that first provides such information to a central dispatch or processing center, whereby such information may be provided to first responders either at dispatch or in route.